India world's second fastest population growth country: UN

Washington, June 14 (ANI): India is world's second fastest population growing country, according to the United Nations.

The world population could reach nearly 11 billion by the end of the century, the United Nations report issued on June 13 said.

The new statistical analysis showed that about 800 million, or about eight percent, more than the previous projection of 10.1 billion, issued in 2011.

The projected rise is mostly due to fertility in Africa, where the U.N. had expected birth rates to decline more quickly than they have.

By far the population to increase the largest is in Nigeria, which is expected to increase by 730 million people, from 184 million now to 914 million in 2100.

Eight of the top ten increases are in Africa, with India in second place. The United States is eighth, with an expected increase of 146 million, or 46 percent, from 316 million now to 462 million in 2100.

The largest projected decline is in China, expected to decrease by about 300 million, from 1.4 billion now to 1.1 billion in 2100.

"The fertility decline in Africa has slowed down or stalled to a larger extent than we previously predicted, and as a result the African population will go up," Adrian Raftery, a University of Washington professor of statistics and of sociology, said.

The current African population is about 1.1 billion and it is now expected to reach 4.2 billion, nearly a fourfold increase, by 2100.

Europe may see a small decline because of fertility continuing below replacement level, and other nations around the globe may see modest increases due to longer life expectancies, Raftery said.